“Didn’t decide what we’re doin’ with the girls,” Ace reminded Z.
The club prez rapped his knuckles on the table as he thought. After a few moments he said, “Crow ain’t down here with us, but know exactly what that brother would say...”
Hawk nodded, finishing for him. “The girls are blood. They need to know it an’ each other.”
“Yeah,” Dex said softly. “Guess I can tell Brooke. But not sure what she’s gonna do or how she’s gonna act.”
“She’ll probably wanna confront ‘im,” Jag said.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of. She’s fuckin’ a pro shot with that Sig of hers.”
Hawk snorted. “Well, if she takes ‘im out then he’s no longer our problem.”
Dex frowned. “Yeah, an’ she ends up in a concrete box for cold-blooded murder.”
Hawk cocked a brow. “Do you care?”
Did he? Could he see her as more than a quick, but hot, lay for the past couple nights? Dex regarded his cousin for a long minute. Fuck me. “Yeah, I do.”
Hawk’s lips twitched and he whacked Dex on the back. “Welcome to the fuckin’ club.”
“Fuck.” Dex shook his head. “Was the only one left on the committee with his balls intact.”
“Brother, lost your balls when you got those rings in your nips,” Hawk said.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Z agreed, then he quickly got back to business. “We’ll figure out a chance for the girls to meet each other an’ give Kels the news. Go from there. Once D’s settled with the baby, we’ll get the shit with Pierce handled. Yeah?”
An answering “Yeah” went up from the table.
Z looked at Ace. “Guess you’re gonna have to handle Annie, as well. Prepare her for the shit that’s about to fall.”
“Fuck,” Ace muttered.
“What don’t kill us makes us stronger, right?” Jag asked.
“Right,” Dex said.
“All right, time to get back upstairs. I’m ready to meet my grandson,” Ace said.
“Down an’ dirty...” Z began loudly.
“’Til dead!” came the answering shouts along with the fists being pounded on the table.
Then they all headed back upstairs to wait for the newest member of the next generation of the DAMC.
Chapter Eight
It ended up that there was no fucking need to rush upstairs to the waiting room. With stubborn parents like Diesel and Jewel, their kid was just as stubborn about finally coming into the world.
Everyone waited around for hours and hours. Some drinking coffee, some napping. But one thing was clear, everyone was getting impatient.
Dex had wanted to leave several times to head over to Brooke’s motel. He still hadn’t gotten an answering text or phone call.
And that was goddamn bullshit.
Dex looked around the room. Soon-to-be an aunt Diamond had her head on Slade’s shoulder and his arm wrapped around her as they slept. Ivy was perched once again in Jag’s lap, her eyes closed as well. Jag’s were open, but barely, as he waited for his sister to give birth. Emma’s daughter, Lily, was asleep draped over Dawg’s broad chest, while his ol’ lady was curled up in a chair next to him. Janice and Ace sat holding hands and talking to each other in a low voice, waiting for their first grandchild. Jewel’s mother, Ruby, sat restlessly close by, flipping through a magazine. Hawk and Kiki were tucked into a corner by the elevators. Z sat on the floor, his back against the wall, Sophie between his legs, leaning back on his chest with Zeke asleep in her arms. Annie, Allie, and Kelsea, along with Grizz and Momma Bear played a quiet game of cards in another corner. Bella sat wrapped up with Crow since Axel had to leave hours earlier to work the midnight shift at SVPD. Crow’s head was thrown back, his mouth wide open as he slept, his long, black braid draped over the back of the chair.
Dex turned his attention to another corner where Linc, Crash, Nash and Rig had gathered. He eyeballed Linc, who was texting someone on his cell phone. He wasn’t certain if it was Jayde, who hadn’t showed up. Dex was pretty sure Mitch would’ve frowned upon Jayde coming to the hospital and waiting around for the next generation of bikers to be born. And since Z’s sister still lived at home, she tried not to create too many waves. She had already caused a big one when she went to work for the club’s attorney, Kiki.
And though Jayde had a thing for Linc, it seemed as though the brother had been keeping his distance from her. Especially with her father Mitch being a cop, her brother Axel being one, too, and then their club prez being her oldest brother... Linc was just better off leaving her alone. The man had a good head on his shoulders so it didn’t surprise Dex one bit that he was being sensible and not letting potential pussy get his ass in trouble.
The only fully-patched members missing from the waiting room were the two newest ones: Rooster, who probably had to work The Iron Horse until closing, and Moose, who was now managing Heaven’s Angels Gentlemen’s Club. And, of course, none of the prospects were there.
He wondered if Brooke had returned his calls or texts, would she have come to the hospital to wait it out with him. She could be cuddled up in his lap right now, drooling on his shoulder, like Diamond was doing to Slade.
Fuck. Brooke would probably make him curl up on her lap. She was one controlling woman.
He smiled to himself.
Every demand she had made on him so far when they fucked, he had no problem following. When the time came that he got sick of it, he’d let her know. But right now...
Fuck. Right now was all they had, because who knew what the hell was going to happen once all the shit with Pierce went down and all the secrets were out in the open.
Brooke would want her pound of flesh and then she’d head back home. To wherever the hell that was.
Where the hell was that?
For fuck’s sake, he’d never even asked.
Not that she’d volunteered that information, either. He now knew what she did, but not where she did it.
Dex shifted in the spot he’d claimed on the floor since there were no more available chairs. It felt as though every part of his body had fallen asleep. Brooke’s bed in her motel room was so much more comfortable. Even if she was causing him pain by clawing him, biting him or ripping on his nipple rings.
She probably had a dominatrix dungeon in the basement of wherever she lived.
He should be worried about being tied up and beaten into submission by a woman, but for some reason that just made his dick twitch. He was fucked up. He never, ever thought he’d want a woman to dominate him before.
As he glanced around the crowded room again, he realized the last thing he needed was one of his brothers finding out. It was bad enough they now knew about the nipple rings.
Heavy footsteps slowly coming down the corridor from the direction of the maternity ward had him turning his head.
Diesel was lumbering down the hall, ripping off a yellow gown that barely fit him. His face looked serious, his expression not giving Dex a damn thing.
Dex climbed to his feet and shouted, “Yo! D’s comin’,” to wake everyone up.
One by one people’s heads rose. Ace and Janice jumped to their feet and stepped forward, as did Ruby. Waiting. For something. Anything.
But no one said a word.
D simply stood there, not even blinking. Dex wondered if the man was in shock or something.
Janice had a tight grip on Ace, a worried look on her face as she stared at her youngest son.
Ruby had a hand to her mouth, almost as if expecting the worst.
And everyone else was as frozen as Diesel.
The ice was broken when Ace shouted out, “Well? What’s his name?”
Diesel finally blinked, looked at his father then said, “Violet.”
And before anyone could react, D dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands.
No one moved. No one said a word. No one even breathed.
Janice rushed up to him, falling to her knees as well, and
wrapping her arms around D as best as she could. “Son, what’s wrong?” she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Nothin’. She’s... perfect.”
Dex sat on his bike and stared at the dark window of Brooke’s motel room. He was fucking bone tired and he knew she’d still be asleep since it was only five in the morning.
He should be asleep, too. And the exhaustion should be from banging Brooke all night, not hanging out in a hospital.
But Violet DeeJay Dougherty had come into the world at nine pounds, three ounces and that miniature human had knocked the shit out of Diesel.
Hell, she’d surprised all of them.
No one, not one of them, ever expected Diesel to be capable of producing a daughter.
A baby girl.
Janice had lightened the mood in the room by whacking her son upside the head for making them all worry by the way he reacted.
Dex still wasn’t sure if D was okay with having a daughter. His cousin was a hard one to figure out.
Zeke. Violet. Hawk’s unborn son. And then whatever Ivy and Jag ended up having. The fourth generation of the DAMC was in full swing. Hell, even Lily and possibly Caitlin, Dawg’s teenage daughter, could be counted among them.
He was sure it wouldn’t be long before Sophie was knocked up again since Baby Z was now over a year old. Plus, Di and Slade were probably getting a lot of practice on the mechanics of making a baby.
Whether Di wanted to be a mother or not, Dex wasn’t sure.
And then there was Bella...
His sister had been robbed of that chance and any chance in the future. A loss to both her and Axel because they’d make awesome fucking parents. Whether they’d eventually adopt or not...
Dex mentally shrugged, sighed, heeled his kickstand down and, with a groan, dismounted his sled. He wasn’t even sure Brooke would let him in, since she never responded to him at all.
Not even to the last text he’d sent an hour ago to let her know that Violet had been born.
He stood, about ready to collapse, in front of her motel room and lifted his fist to pound on the door. Instead, he dropped it, pressed his forehead to the wood door, leaned his weight into it and yelled out her name.
He closed his eyes as he waited for her to wake up and come open the door.
Jesus. He didn’t think he could muster the energy to even fuck her.
He felt like he was sinking in quicksand. He needed to get horizontal soon.
“Babe,” he yelled this time and forced himself to lift his hand to knock.
Nothing.
“Babe...” he said again. “Fuckin’ let me in.”
Still nothing.
He groaned. He slipped his cell from his back pocket and dialed her number. He held his breath to see if he could hear her cell ringing inside.
Nope. Her phone had to be off.
“Brooke, damn it,” he yelled and pounded a little louder on the door.
Nothing again.
No light went on. No movement. Nothing.
Fuck.
He blinked. For fuck’s sake, what if the Shadow Warriors snagged her while he was at the hospital twiddling his fucking thumbs?
He turned and realized something he should have seen from the get-go. Her Beemer was gone.
What the fuck?
Suddenly he was wide awake, his nerve ends crackling.
If those motherfucking Warriors took her...
He stalked over to the motel office and, even though the sign said closed, he rang the bell five thousand times until the owner got out of bed and came to the door in her curlers and housecoat, while wearing a pair of fuzzy slippers.
“What the fuck do you want? Sign says closed, idiot,” she griped.
“I can fuckin’ read. Need to know the last time you saw the woman in number four.”
The motel maven blinked a few times as she looked past him, out the door and toward Brooke’s room.
“The last time I saw her? When she fucking checked out!” With that, she slammed the door in his face.
Dex jerked his head back and took a steadying breath.
When she checked out?
“What time was that?” he shouted at the door. But the woman nor the door answered him.
He pulled his cell out again and texted furiously: Call me ASAP.
He needed to grab a couple hours of sleep before heading to the pawn shop. With a curse, he headed back to his sled.
Dex stood over his sister. Her head was down on her desk, her arms being used as pillows, and she was snoring lightly.
He felt the same way. The couple hours of sleep he tried to grab never came. He tossed and turned, wondering where the fuck Brooke took off to and why she wouldn’t answer him.
Maybe he needed to get a hold of Hunter to see if he could track her down. But that meant he’d get shit for chasing a woman. Not only from his own brothers but from D’s Shadows, too.
He’d leave that as the last resort.
Instead, he decided to see if Ivy could work her magic on the computer.
“Ivy!” he shouted, making her jump.
She lifted her head and frowned at him. “What? Can’t you see I’m sleeping?”
“Don’t let Ace catch you.”
She grabbed a nearby bottle of water and took a swig. “He’s not here. He’s still at the hospital.”
“Right. Just sayin’.”
When he took a deep breath, her eyes narrowed on him. “What do you want?” she asked, suspicion lacing her voice.
“Need a favor.”
“Of course you do.”
“Ivy, need you to do somethin’ for me, but it stays between us.”
She sat up straighter, more awake than a few seconds ago. “What?”
“Just need you to find me some info.”
“On who?”
He perched his hip on the edge of the desk. “Brooke.”
Her brows shot up. “What kind of info and why?”
“Need her address.”
“For what?”
“Seriously, sis. Just need her details.”
Ivy wiggled the computer mouse and the screen lit up. She was a wiz with computers and the next best thing to getting one of D’s guys to help him. “What’s her last name?”
Dex’s eyes slid to the side. “Uh...”
Ivy’s smacked him on the thigh. “Holy fuck, have you been knocking boots with her and you don’t even know her last name?”
Ah, fuck. “No... know it. Just forgot.”
Ivy snorted. “Liar.” She tapped a finger against her bottom lip. “Okay, got her license plate?”
“It’s PA. Not sure of the tag info, though.”
“Jesus. We have her first name, and a state.” She glanced up at him. “Phone number?”
“Yeah, got that.”
“Well?”
He read the digits off his cell while Ivy typed them into the computer and then clicked the mouse a few times.
Ivy stared at the computer screen. “Monroe.”
“Huh?”
“Her last name, dummy. Monroe. Brooke Marilyn Monroe.” Ivy giggled. “That’s cool. Almost as cool as Mick Jagger Jamison.”
“Jag don’t think it’s cool,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, well...”
“Write down her address.”
“I need to do more digging for an actual address.”
“Okay, well, hurry the fuck up then.”
Ivy pushed the keyboard toward him. “Have at it if you think it’s that easy.”
“C’mon, sis.”
Ivy stared at him for a moment. “What’s going on with her?”
“Nothin’.”
“Did she take off?”
Dex considered his sister for a moment, before breathing, “Yeah.”
“So? You can’t find pussy elsewhere?” Ivy raised a hand. “I’m talking other than the sweet butts or the strippers.” When Dex didn’t say anything for a moment, Ivy sat back in the chair and crossed her
arms over her chest. “What’s going on, Dex?”
“Nothin’. Just got somethin’ to tell her.”
Ivy pursed her lips and tilted her head. “Why does it have to be in person?”
Again, he didn’t answer.
“You can’t call her and tell her?”
“Not this.”
Ivy leaned forward. “Fuck, who’s her father?”
“Ivy...”
“Dex, fucking tell me. Who raped her mother?”
“Jesus,” he muttered, dragging fingers through her hair. “Sis, we’re gonna deal with it.”
“You tell me or I’m not giving you shit.”
“Ivy, gotta do this for me. Promise you’ll know as soon as you can.”
“This is complete bullshit, Dex, I’m telling you right now. Are any of us at risk?”
When his sister said “us” he was pretty sure she meant just the women. “No.”
“Sure?”
Dex sucked in a breath. Pierce wouldn’t dare touch one of the DAMC women, would he? But could he really tell his sister he was sure the asshole wouldn’t?
“The sooner you give me Brooke’s address, the sooner this can be dealt with, got me?”
“This is bullshit, Dex. You know it. You need to tell us who it is.”
Right, and then be responsible for the women going all vigilante on Pierce’s ass. Which would lead to Dex getting raked across the coals for talking club business with one of them. Even if it was his own sister and Jag’s ol’ lady.
“You’ll know. When it’s time.”
Ivy gathered her long red hair up on the top of her head and blew out a breath. “I’m going to get you her info, but you have to promise me you’ll tell me as soon as you can.”
“Pretty sure Jag will tell you.”
“Fucking Jag. He knows, doesn’t he?”
Aw, shit.
“It was that meeting you had last night at the hospital,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Don’t give ‘im shit, Ivy. Don’t fuck up what you two have just to get some info you don’t need right now.”
Down & Dirty: Dex (Dirty Angels MC Book 8) Page 10